Alpine's $1,000 Do-All: Now Shipping

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Alpine aims to do to your dashboard what others have done for your living room. With its new IVA-W205 car deck, you can build a customized super-elaborate car stereo that does everything you could possibly want. Everything’s centered around a 6.5-inch QVGA touchscreen with tactile feedback, meaning when you touch the screen to make a selection, it moves to let you know that you’ve made your selection, so your eyes aren’t off the road as long. Hi-tech and safe, you see.

I have an iPod-compatible Alpine deck, but nothing like this. The deck is the centerpiece of other peripherals you’d want to add on. It supports XM or Sirius satellite radio receivers, iPods, and works quite well with Alpine’s own “Blackbird” GPS nav unit, which looks quite good on the large screen. It also supports most MP3 players with USB, HD radios, and even music and handsfree via Bluetooth from your mobile phone. Any of your friends’ music, no matter what device it’s on, will work through your hoopty. Even CDs. Word to that.

The deck is shipping now and you should be able to find one at your local Alpine retailer for about $1,000, give or take. It’s a high-end unit, so it’s not for everyone, but if you’re a gadget enthusiast (which, we’re guessing, is why you’re here), then it’s a must have.